Nigel’s new collection comes from years of travelling, talking to people and listening to their stories. People are invariably more interesting and multi-faceted than they might at first appear (if you are prepared to give them time and listen to their stories) – from stoic widows in Chicago or a tour guide in the Killing Fields of Cambodia, to a teacher in Cuba or a Minister of Information in India.A memoir and travelogue of personal, emotional, raw, and sometimes just plain silly...

As Jeremiah Bourne is swept from his crumbling home in Blackfriars in 2019 to the same house in 1910, he suddenly faces two questions: how did he get here, and how can he return to his own time?On his quest for answers, he encounters a cast of comic characters and situations: a coven of free-thinking spiritualists, a futuristic residents' association, warring street gangs, eugenic scientists, aggressive domestic servants and a nudist magistrate. As events unfold, Jeremiah begins to...

‘A dime a dozen’ as known in America, is perhaps equal to the English ‘cheap as chips’ but whatever the lingua franca of your choice in this series we hereby submit ‘A Rhyme a Dozen’ as 12 poems on many given subjects that are a well-rounded gathering, maybe even an essential guide, from the knowing pens of classic poets and their beautifully spoken verse to the comfort of your ears.1 - A Rhyme a Dozen - 12 Poets, 12 Poems , 1 Topic. Cats - An Introduction2 - The Owl and th...

Nigel Planer has been writing poetry for over fifty years. Now he has corralled many of his poems into one volume, Making Other Plans – as in ‘poetry is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.’This collection forms a poetic memoir, richly articulating humorous and serious observations on life, love, ageing, society and the human condition, recounted with emotional tenderness and warranted vexation.“A unique piece of poetic time travel. Frequently funny, s...

The Poetry Of Trees. Although there is no definitive definition we all know what they are. At their most magisterial they can reach hundreds of feet into the air and be thousands of years old. But for many the visual structure they bring to our landscape in all their various heights and colours; their contribution to the seasons – stark branches, vivid leaves at birth and death is how we relate to them. For the poets here in this collection trees are a source of inspiration and give us muc...

Our senses revel in the incomparable majesty of the work of Mother Nature. The structure of the landscape, the multi-coloured mantle of trees and fauna, the myriad animals that wander and inhabit this glorious Earth. Nature conducts symphonies of sound as her world goes from day into the inky embrace of night.Our ears and eyes are constantly bathed in the wonder of her ways; the soft drizzle of rain from soft grey clouds, a wave caressing the shore and the ravenous colours of a dep...

Literature is a world of words and wonder, able to take us on almost unimaginable journeys from the wild and fantastic to the grind and minutiae of life.An author’s ideas are his building blocks, his architecture of the mind, building a structure on which all else will rest; the narrative, the characters, the words - those few words that begin the adventure.In this series we look at some of our leading classic authors across two genres: the short story and the poem. In this...

Tinker's Cottage nestles in a forgotten corner of deepest Somerset. It also happens to sit on a weak point in the space time continuum… which is somewhat unfortunate for Ian Faulkener, a graphic novelist from London, who was hoping for some peace and quiet in which to recuperate following a very messy breakdown. It was the cats that first alerted Ian to the fact that something was not quite right with Tinker's Cottage… the cats, and of course the Pope, disappearing literary agents, mislaid...

Rose Well Holiday Park needs a hero. This once shining icon of the Great British Holiday Camp is dying, and the last residents are more interested in preparing for a zombie apocalypse or fighting off imaginary UFOs than playing Crazy Golf or Bingo. In addition, a foreign bottled water company is attempting to force a sale so they can seize the last asset of Rose Well Park, the Rose Well Spring. What Rose Well Park could probably do without, is a hero whose belief in a better tomorrow far o...

The language of Poetry is an art that most of us attempt at some point in our lives. Although its commonplace exposure has been somewhat marginalised in today’s often fast-paced lives we all recognise good verse that can empathise with our thoughts or open us up to experience new things in new ways, to better understand and to enjoy the many strands of our lives.But finding a starting point can be overwhelming, even off-putting, so in this series we offer up our Top 10 classic poet...

The language of Poetry is an art that most of us attempt at some point in our lives. Although its commonplace exposure has been somewhat marginalised in today’s often fast-paced lives we all recognise good verse that can empathise with our thoughts or open us up to experience new things in new ways, to better understand and to enjoy the many strands of our lives.But finding a starting point can be overwhelming, even off-putting, so in this series we offer up our Top 10 classic poet...

High up on the wooden scaffolding tower of the Sistine Chapel, two fresco plasterers get on with the day’s work preparing the ceiling for their boss Michelangelo who has not bothered to turn up for work again. As they do so, they bemoan the uselessness of the great master. Pope Julius and Cardinal Alidosi visit the chapel to inspect the progress of their commission. They are never very impressed, and the Pope is more concerned about getting Michelangelo to do his funeral monument at a knoc...